What Could Have Been
by Ludakrista
Summary: This will be a compilation of edited or extended scenes from Meteor Garden 2018. Each chapter will begin with a small, detailed summary. Please be patient with me as I figure out how to navigate this site and chapter database(s).
1. The Sound Of Love

This scene is based on the amnesia arc interlaced with the couples bracelets. Dao Ming Si still has amnesia and has just been discharged. Shancai has already spoken with F3 and her friends, declaring that she will no longer be visiting Ah Si because it is too painful for her. There is no secondary love interest.

* * *

 **The Sound Of Love**

Shancai slowly walks home alone, she opens the front door and her body freezes with her hand still clenching the doorknob. Shancai looks to the left and stares at the flat next door, where Dao Ming Si once stayed. We see a flashback of Ah Si asking Shancai for a hug before she goes inside, then their hug and the happiness on both of their faces. We also see them in bed together, her staring at his back with a smile on her face, telling him how happy she is.

Shancai's eyes turn red as she fights the tears, her hand grips the doorknob tightly and she lets out a small whimper and hangs her head. She enters her flat and immediately walks to her room, sitting down on the bed. Shancai stares at her desk where the meteor necklace is displayed. At this point she no longer fights the tears and lets them fall freely. Shancai lays down in a fetal position with her hands held against her heart. She buries her head into the pillow and sobs, her hand automatically reaching for the bracelet she hasn't removed since day one.

She covers the bracelet's flower with her entire palm, it lights up and buzzes and she begins to cry more and more as the bracelet continues to vibrate.

* * *

Dao Ming Si is laying in bed, his head propped on his hands, his brows are furrowed in thought and annoyance. He hasn't been able to get the image of that big-eyed girl out of his mind. _Why was she crying? Why did she visit him so often and suddenly stop? Why did it bother him?_

What has he forgotten? Ah Si frowned and angrily turned to lay on his side.

 **BZZZT**

Ah Si jerked his head towards the noise, then propped himself up on his elbows, squinting at his desk.

 **BZZZT**

His eyes widened, then squinted again as he pushed himself out of bed. He quickly approached the desk and reached for the top drawer.

 **BZZZT**

He hesitated to open the drawer for a brief moment then yanked it open, rifling through its contents.

 **BZZZT**

Ah Si made a sound of annoyance and slammed the drawer shut, automatically opening the one under it and repeating the process.

 **BZZZT**

His hand touched something cold and beaded. He began to pull this item out as he heard the BZZZT again. He placed the bracelet on the desk and plopped down into his chair. With a puzzled look, he went to pick it up again - the BZZZT sounds and he freezes. Ah Si lets his hand fall to rest on the desk, next to the bracelet. His eyebrows are furrowed and he's trying so hard to place where he has seen this bracelet before. He tentatively touches one of the beads, then another, and another...until he has touched and traced each bead. He hasn't touched the colored dome located in the middle of the bracelet.

Ah Si grabs the bracelet and puts it on. He extends his arm, turning his wrist left and right, willing it to buzz again. Nothing. He abruptly lifts his arm up for a moment, then lowers it. Nothing. He sighs and slumps into his chair, confused and intrigued. We then see him fall asleep in his chair, still wearing the bracelet.

The bracelet doesn't sound again.

* * *

Shancai wakes up, still fully clothed with her shoes on, disoriented, and looks at the clock. She doesn't bother changing and rushes out of the door to make it to class on time.

Shancai is in class not paying attention to her professor or her peers. She hasn't opened her book nor written any notes. Her thoughts are filled with Dao Ming Si. Her face is pale and devoid of emotion.

Class ends and Qing He runs over to invite her to join him and Li Zhen for lunch. Shancai tries to work up a smile and tells them that she needs to go get some fresh air. Li Zhen nods, understanding and ushers Qing He away to the cafeteria. He flights her grasp and keeps glancing back at Shancai.

Shancai makes her way to the roof, not paying any attention to her surroundings. She sits down on the bench where her and Lei often sat and rests her back against the wall. She is staring at her shoes and we see a flashback of Dao Ming Si wearing her (cut up) shoes as a joke. Shancai sighs and smiles sadly, noticing a piece of chalk on the ground. She reaches down and picks it up, turning her body towards the wall. She recalls all the times Lei drew on the wall and smiles again, this time it's less sad.

* * *

Dao Ming Si is also in class not paying attention. He still sees that Shancai girl's crying face in his mind. He has his head propped on one hand while his other is impatiently tapping on the desk. Ximen clears his throat and Ah Si glances over to him. Ximen nods towards Ah Si's hand, then the professor staring at them. Ah Si stops and begins to gather his books, he uncharacteristically apologizes to the professor/class and leaves early, with Ximen and Mei Zuo behind him.

They head towards the cafeteria and grab their food before sitting down. Ah Si joins them, not eating. Ximen asks Ah Si "What's on your mind?"

Ah Si shakes his head. "Just tell me what I've forgotten," he demands. "I know that it's something incredibly important and I haven't been able to sleep for days trying to figure it out."

Ximen and Mei Zuo look at each other, uncertain how to respond. Mei Zuo purses his lips and telepathically asks Ximen if they should mention Shancai. Ximen vehemently shakes his head back and forth in quick motions and lowers his hand to the table, gesturing for Mei Zuo to remain calm.

Ximen opens his mouth to respond to Ah Si -

Ah Si took a long swig of Ximen's drink -

 **BZZZT  
**

* * *

Shancai steps back to admire her artwork with a smile. She's drawn a pineapple with exaggerated hair, thick eyebrows and an open angry mouth with the Chinese characters for the words "you stupid girl" coming out of it.

Shancai's smile falters and the hand holding the chalk drops to rest against her hip. She looks completely defeated and contemplates how their relationship came to be so complicated. _"What if he never remembers me?"_ She thought to herself. She closes her eyes and thinks about all the wonderful moments they shared in London. She opens her eyes and sits down again, wondering how she could ever be able to live happily without Dao Ming Si.

Her eyes turn red and she clenches her jaw. If Dao Ming Si were here and remembered her, he would tell her _"This isn't the Dong Shancai I know."_ Shancai bites her lip and nods, instinctively reaching for her bracelet. She takes several deep breaths and calms herself trying to remain positive about this whole ordeal. She lifts the bracelet up and caresses it against her cheek for awhile, lost in thought, trying to find her fighting spirit. The bracelet lights up and buzzes repeatedly.

* * *

Ah Si's entire body jerked in response to the buzzing coming from his bracelet. He quickly looked down at it then froze, his eyes wide. He dropped Ximen's drink, it seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion.

Suddenly, he was choking and he couldn't breathe. Ah Si was gasping for air, his eyes closed and body shaking. He braced himself against the cafeteria table and felt Ximen's hand start to thump on his back.

Mei Zuo yelled his name and reached for his phone to call for help. Qing He and Li ZHen rushed over to the table to see what was going on and if they could assist in any way.

 **BZZZT.**

Ah Si's grip on the table tightened so hard that his fingers turned white. He wailed out in complete and utter anguish as the tears began to pour from his eyes. We see flashbacks of Shancai's flying kick to his face, them being stuck in the elevator all night, the first time he confessed to her, their first real kiss, her speech about him after the cooking competition, the cookies she gave him for his birthday, the first time they broke up, Shancai pulling him in by his tie for a kiss, spending the night together in Ah Si's flat, crying and reminiscing over the hot pot and all of their happy moments in London and on the island.

Ximen's thumping gradually turned into a tentative pat as Ah Si's head fell to the table, his body shaking in uncontrollable sobs. Mei Zuo lowered his phone and rounded the table to join Ximen in comforting Ah Si.

 _Everyone was staring and no one at the table cared._

 **BZZZT**

Ah Si's body jerked yet again and with a cry out, he pulled his wrist towards his chest and held it against his heart. His cheek brushed against the colorful dome. He let all of the memories flood through his mind like they were his life's salvation. The bracelet continuously buzzing from the contact against his cheek.

He whispered Shancai's name. Mei Zuo and Ximen knowingly looked at each other before backing away.

* * *

Shancai pulled her phone out and sent a QQ message to Xiao You asking for a girl's day. She sighed and gathered her books, shoving them into her bookbag. She made a mental note to ask Li Zhen for her notes later.

She pulled on the straps of her bookbag and remained seated, breathing in and out, making ridiculous hand gestures. Shancai told herself that she could do it, she could make it through the day. And the next day. And the day after that. _She can do it._ Shancai forced a smile, then frowned. She tried again, smiling and nodding, she looked down at her bracelet and caressed the metal on the side.

She missed him terribly.

 **BZZZT**

Shancai froze, her fingers still touching the side of the bracelet. She blinked and tilted her head to the side thinking that there's no way it could have buzzed. She must have accidentally brushed against the flower and hadn't realized. She hummed and the thought and stood up.

 **BZZZT**

Shancai fell foward, stopped, and immediately lifted her wrist up to stare. It _definitely_ buzzed this time. It was _definitely_ lit up. She gulped and kept staring, hoping and praying that this was real and she wasn't dreaming. Hoping that the person on the other side was Dao Ming Si

She gripped her wrist with her other hand so hard that she began to hurt herself. Her eyes were turning red and her mouth was trembling.

 **BZZZT**

She sank to the ground and began crying. _"So much for being the Dong Shancai that everyone is used to,"_ she thought to herself. Shancai lowered her head, her hair cascading downward forming a curtain, concealing her face. She let go of her wrist and extended her index finger towards the flower on her bracelet.

She tapped it twice and held her breath, begging for this to be real.

* * *

Ah Si loosened his grip on the table and immediately pushed himself away to stand up. His body swayed and Ximen caught him before he could fall. Ah Si grabbed the lapel's of his own jacket and pulled on them tightly as if to rearrange himself and his posture. Ximen kept a hand on Ah Si's back. "Are you okay? What happened?" Ximen inquired, removing his hand

Ah Si jerked his head to look at Ximen in the eye. "I remember everything."

"What exactly do you remember now?" Ximen inquired.

Ah SI's face changed from hard to soft and he says "That idiot girl, Dong Shancai." He pulls his sleeve up a bit and abruptly starts tapping the colorfol dome on his bracelet. He looks up at his friends and _pleads_ to know where Shancai is, his face frantic.

Qing He hesitates in his resentment towards Dao Ming Si, but speaks up and says that Shancai went to take a breather. Ah Si's face breaks out in a luminous smile as he slaps Qing He on the shoulder in a friendly, thankful gesture.

Ah Si taps the dome on his bracelet again as he backs up against his chair, knocking it over.

He doesn't care.

He starts running towards the stairs that lead to the roof, tapping on his bracelet once more. His heart is beating out of his body.

 _He can't run fast enough._

 **BZZZT**

"Dong Shancai," he whispered.

* * *

Shancai is still on the rooftop floor, her bracelet is buzzing like crazy and she is both crying and laughing. She is still hoping and praying.

She hears loud foot steps. Someone is running towards her. She then hears an abrupt squeak as those steps come to a halt.

Shancai looks up to find Dao Ming Si, who is still crazily tapping on his bracelet.

"Dao Ming Si, it's you." Shancai said, as if she were in a dream.

"You idiot girl, of course it's me," Ah Si claims and drops to his knees in front of her, immediately pulling her into his embrace. His body starts shaking as he sobs. He rests his cheek against her shoulder, then moves it to her hair, then to her cheek.

Ah Si pulls away to look into Shancai's watery eyes and repeats a line he's said before. "Sorry, I'm late."

Shancai tearfully smiles back at him and balls her hand up into a fist, hitting his chest once. "Do you remember me now?" She asks as Ah Si brings his hands up to cradle her face.

"You're Dong Shancai. Sophomore at Ming De. You have an extremely cool boyfriend." Shancai laughs at this, wiping her tears away, then scowls remembering how he tried to say that she was Lei's girlfriend. Her lips trembled and she muttered "You idiot! I really thought you'd never remember me your whole life!"

"I'm sorry," Ah Si says, his face remorseful. Shancai brings her fist down on his chest again. "If 'I'm sorry' could solve everything, we wouldn't need the police, now would we?" She said, unclenching her fist to rest her hand against his chest. Ah Si nods, laughing loudly before kissing her on the forehead. He pulled away with a serious expression on his face.

"Dong Shancai, my life is you." He used his thumb to caress her cheek and then smiled at her lovingly.

"You idiot," Shancai whispered and grabbed his shirt, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.


	2. Marked For Life

This scene is a continuation of one of the newlywed scenes included in their montage of married-life scenes after the wedding.

* * *

 **Marked For Life**

Dao Ming Si pushed Shancai down on the bed and wrote "wife" on her cheeks. Shancai giggled like a school girl and smiled up at Ah Si asking what he wrote. Ah Si grinned and held the mirror up to her face, his body still on top of hers. Shancai read "wife," and immediately snatched the pen from him to quickly write "husband" on his forehead. She then flipped the mirror around in his hand, her eyebrow arched. Ah Si peered into the mirror and his smile broadened. He tossed the mirror aside and pushed his body down against Shancai's.

Shancai's smile melted. She swallowed as Ah Si's face inched closer. Before their bodies were flush against each other, she placed her hands against his chest. Ah Si raised his eyebrows as if to ask "what's wrong?" Shancai bit her lip and trailed her hands up to link around his neck. She shook her head and smiled, her fingers in the hair at the base of his neck. She pulled him in for a kiss.

Ah Si looked surprised at first, then hungry. He growled and locked his lips onto hers, moving his head to the side to deepen the kiss. Shancai gasped, opening her mouth slightly. Ah Si promptly took advantage of the moment and slipped his tongue inside, pushing it against hers. Shancai moved one hand to Ah Si's back and grabbed a fistful of his robe, her other hand still in his hair, slightly pulling.

Ah Si's hands trailed down to Shancai's hips, his tongue dancing against hers. He briefly pulled away to rub his lips against hers, before softly licking her bottom lip. Shancai's eyes were dilated and full of longing. Her cheeks were flushed, her body restless. Ah Si grinned devilishly and leaned forward to kiss that flushed cheek where he marked his claim, then the other. He just stared at Shancai after.

"What?!" Shancai whimpered, tugging on his robe.

"I'm just taking a moment to appreciate what I have," he replied, his gaze darting back and forth, up and down, "...before I take it again."

"Ah Si! Don't say things like that!" Shancai exclaimed before closing her eyes in embarrassment. No matter how many times they were intimate, it always felt as if it were the first time.

"Why can't I? You're mine," he replied, cupping her face with one hand. "Look at me, Shancai." She opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I am," she whispered, her hand moving from his hair to his face. She studied his face. His hair was slicked back, his face fresh, clean and perfect. The longer they were together, the more she began to notice about him, like the flecks of light brown that danced around in his eyes during moments of happiness. The single gray hair he refused to acknowledge on the right side, just above his ear. With a small smile, she traced the bridge of his nose.

Ah Si's gaze darkened in reaction to her touch. He leaned down to kiss her again, this time soft and sweet. He pulled back, then kissed the corner of her mouth. "I need you," he whispered, looking into her eyes for a reply.

Shancai brought both of her hands to his chest, moving her hands under his robe lapels. She pushed the robe off of his shoulders. Ah Si shrugged it off and looked down to find Shancai undoing the belt of his robe. He looked back up at her, humbled, his heart overflowing with love. Once untied, Ah Si pulled the rest of his robe off and tossed it across the room before pressing his body against hers again. Shancai bit her lip and placed her hands against his chest once more, running her thumb across one side.

Ah Si pulled Shancai's hips against his and claimed her lips again. She pulled away and reached up to unbutton her pajama top. Ah Si's face softened and he covered her hands with his.

"Let me?" he asked with a small smile. Shancai grew still then nodded, her hands now resting on the bed.

Ah Si deftly undid each button. He glanced up asking for permission to remove her top. Shancai then placed her hands on his and pulled them apart. She shimmied out of her top and tossed it over and behind his head.

Ah Si gulped and felt that he could no longer restrain himself.

"Shancai, I..." he struggled to vocalize his intentions. Ah Si gulped again, looking down at Shancai. Her face broke out into a big smile. Feeling brave, she removed the rest of her clothing as Ah Si stared, unable to move. She reached up, moving her hands to his back and roughly pulled him down on top of her.

Ah Si groaned and rested his head on the bed next to her face. "What are you doing?" He muttered. He could feel every inch, every curve, of her skin against his. It was driving him crazy.

"Taking you. Since you're too slow to do it yourself," she replied with a small laugh. Ah Si briefly pulled his upper body away so he could muster up some self control.

Ah Si's head jerked up in surprise. "S-S-Shancai," he exclaimed, her boldness in this area unfamiliar to him. She pulled him down again, pressing her chest against his. Shancai called him an idiot and lifted her head to bite his bottom lip. She raised an eyebrow and ran her fingers down his back. Ah Si's eyebrows almost touched his hairline, he was so shocked by her advances. Shancai giggled and rested her hands against his bare hips, urging him to come closer.

Ah Si's face grew fierce and he took what was his.

Again and again.


End file.
